Google + Fun = Goby

Unlike general purpose search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing, Goby is dedicated to a single task: helping people make the most of their scarce free time, from planning a unique vacation to just creating a weekend adventure with your kids. Rather than hopping from site to site, trying to make sense of it all, you simply tell Goby what, where and when, and we surface the best results the Web has to offer, organized in a way that’s easy to understand and use. For example, if you do a search for Beaches in Eastham with Google, you’ll get a long list of web sites you have to look through to find information. With Goby, a search for Beaches in Eastham immediately gives you back a list of beaches, complete with photos, descriptions, maps and other information, so you can make a quick decision.

Goby has a deep understanding of concepts and categories (over 200), locations, and dates – providing a discovery experience that neither traditional search engines or travel sites can support, and gets you to the answer quickly – so you spend less time “searching” and more time “doing” the things you want to do.

Goby seems like a vertical search engine for travel. How would you

deal with content rich TripAdvisor? Do you plan to incorporate their

ratings? and user comments?

Our mission is to help people find things to do in their free time, both when they are traveling, and when they are at home. So we certainly cover traditional travel content like hotels, bed and breakfasts, tours and historic sites – but we also give you quick, comprehensive access to local adventures like hiking and biking trails, concerts, museum events and local festivals . As part of our mission we have an ongoing plan to continually incorporate high quality new content and websites (like TripAdvisor), as well as to provide more context for existing listings, in the form of reviews, ratings, photos, and video.

How do you plan to increase the usage of Goby (given that there are

tons of other options) and Goby is just launching Beta? (Don’t feel

pressured to give your entire marketing strategy but highlight some

core strengths and adoption plan)

We are promoting Goby by reaching out to journalists and bloggers (such as MommyNiri!) who have audiences we think would be interested in a new and better way to find ideas and information about things to do. We’ve included the ability for people to share things they find in Goby with their friends by posting to their Facebook Wall (with Twitter integration coming soon), and we hope that will increase awareness. We plan for Goby pages to be included in the major search engines so that searchers will find Goby pages about particular topics and locations. We are also creating partnerships with others in the travel and media space to offer Goby to their audiences as well.

Seems like Goby is all about aggregating information; how are you

creating value?

Let’s say you are planning a trip down to Cape Cod for the weekend. You might want to find a nice Bed & Breakfast to stay at, spend some time at the beach, and find something fun to do with your family like play miniature golf or go to a museum. With Goby, you can plan an adventure like that in a few short minutes. Without Goby, you’ll spend hours and hours trying to figure all that out. So the first way we create value is simply by saving you time. And if you try to find a Bed and Breakfast near someplace like Eastham, MA, most sites are only going to give you a few to choose from. With Goby you’ll be presented with dozens of easily filterable choices, so you can find the place that gives you the most value, saving you time AND money.

Where do you think Goby will be in 1 to 3 yrs?

We want Goby to be the first site you think of when you ask yourself, “What should I do?”. We believe most people have had the experience of sitting around the dinner table on Friday night, asking the question, “What do you want to do this weekend?”. Or dreading planning that next vacation because you know you’ll spend days in front of the computer trying to figure it all out. We’re dedicated to making that process faster, easier, and more fun!

How can mommies use Goby?

Goby is a perfect tool for Moms. We’ve heard directly from moms that they are always looking for new things to do with their kids, whether it is educational activities, outdoor fun or just spending quality time with them outside the house. Goby can help you find great museum exhibits at a children’s museum or science museum, find a playground near someone you are visiting (so the kids can blow off some steam), or learn about a local festival this weekend. And, mommies need time to themselves as well, so you can find day spas or a great restaurant when you do have that precious free time!